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Friday, September 18, 2015

tips for better ring shots

It's a beautiful Friday! I'm all jacked up on coffee, endorphins from this morning's barre class, and the excitement of what's sure to be a beautiful wedding tomorrow at Le Belvedere.It's been way too long since my last tips & tricks post, so I've decided to channel all this energy into a post about how to take better ring shots! I've scattered this post with tons of my favourite rings from the last few seasons, but I simply must kick it off with a stunning Simon G ring that belongs to tomorrow's beautiful bride!

Now, onto my 6 tips for taking better ring shots!

1. FIND THE RIGHT APERTURE

If you're not controlling the aperture manually, you're bound to have a really tough time getting the ring shot you want. If you're shooting f3.0 or lower, you might find only the prongs are in focus and the diamond looks fuzzy. If you're shooting anything over f7.0 you'll probably start to notice the ring isn't "popping" against the background. It's a balancing act, and if you're relatively new to shooting, try taking one or two photos at each stop between f4 and f8 to see what you like best.

The photo below was taken with a 60mm macro at f4.0:

2. KEEP IT CONSISTENT

While shooting a wedding, I'm always trying to imagine the photos in an album design, and one thing I know for sure is that every bride wants a ring shot in her album! So it's my job to make sure that photo looks cohesive with the rest of her wedding details.

If the ring in the photo below were shot against something dark and harsh instead of a flower from the bouquet, it wouldn't fit with the rest of Shannon and Brad's day:

One of the best ways to keep the ring shot looking cohesive is to use the other wedding details as the background. In the months leading up to the big day, I remind my brides to keep a few things aside that go with the feel of the wedding. For example, leftover ribbon or twine from any DIY elements.

In this case, Brittany and Brent's rings were shot on top of champagne corks from their anniversaries:

4. WHEN IN DOUBT, USE THE INVITATION

It's a pretty safe bet that the invitation will match the bride and groom's general look for the wedding. If the surroundings during the prep aren't ideal, a shot of the rings against the invitation will be perfect.

5. HELP YOUR CLIENTS TO PREPARE

In my FAQ guide, I include a note to my brides to have their rings cleaned and boxed 2 days before the wedding. That way they are looking perfectly brand new by the time I need to photograph them in the morning.

I also make sure they have all 3 rings in one location, so I can take a shot of the complete set. Otherwise, one of the wedding bands could already be in the hands of the Best Man.

If for some reason it's not possible to have all 3 rings in the same place during prep, make sure to find a chance to grab a photo mid-day. It takes a little bit of planning but it's doable!

6. CHALLENGE YOURSELF TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT

Ring shots can get repetitive after a little while, especially if you tend to stick with the same posing over and over. For every wedding I shoot, I arrive about 10 minutes early and with a challenge already in mind. For example, I might decide that for this wedding, I'm going to focus on getting a bouquet shot that's different that my usual.

Do the same for a ring shot to make sure that you're pushing your portfolio in a direction that you're excited about.